CAMBRIDGE FARMERS CLUB.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 724, 6 February 1877, Page 5 (Supplement)

CAMBRIDGE FARMERS CLUB.

The usual monthly meeting of the above Club — adjourned from the 16 th ult — was held at the National Hotel on Tuesday last the 30th ult. Present — Messrs RH D Fergusson, (in the Chair,) Williams, Clark, Jno Martyn, junr, W L Martyn, H Reynolds', Jno Fisher, Robert Fisher, James Runciman, Jno Runciman, E B Walker, Parker, Parr, Brooks, Seddon, Hunt, H Fergusson and Major Wilson. In the absence of Mr Buttle, Mr John Fisher performed the duties of Secretary. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. At this point, Major Wilson was called away and the meeting resolved to adjourn his essay for an hour. Mr James Runciman in accordance with notice of motion moved, " That the remaining part of Mr Hicks' motion with regard to Inspection be considered." It had been found that all the things specified in the resolution could not be inspected in January. Action should be taken at once, perhaps the be3t way would be to appoint a sub committee to carry it out and report to next meeting. There was of course a diversity of opinion on the matter, but he thought that whatever evils might arise would be counterbalanced by the good effects. Mr Clark moved that they should first hear the judges report of • the last inspection, befoie considering the next. - _ . . ; , .Mr v James Runciman withdrew his resolutiohiufavour'of Mr Clark's and seconded the latter. " Mr Williams moved that Mr Strange, who was present, read the judges report. Mr Strange said that owing to the absence of Mr Buttle, the report was not at hand, but he would try to give some accouut of the exhibita from memory, although they would be' pretty well acquainted with the different exhibits from the Waikato Times. He then gave a short account of the crops, &c, inspected, and read a list of the successful competitors which is here subjoined: — •' Wheat— lst R Parr. Oats— lst E B Walker. Potatoes — Ist James Runciman. Peas— lst Swamp Company. Horses— lst W L Martyn. Wire Fences — Ist W Reynolds. Implements — Ist W Reynolds. Best Mixture of Grasses — Ist W Reynolds. Best Grassed Farm — Ist James Runciman. Gates'— lst Swamp Company.

After some remarks from Mr Williams and the other members, a few words were added in reply by Mr Strange— in the course of which he gave the following estimate of the average yield, per acre, of the various crops. Wheat, Parr, 45 bushel ; James Runciman, 35 do ; Clark, 30 do ; Reynolds, 30 do j and Pearson, 25 do. Potatoes, general average from eight to ten tons per acre. Mr Seddon moved a vote of thanks to the judges for the manner in which they had ' performed tbeir duties, they had given a very admirable account of the various entries, perhaps the only mistake was in overestimating the yield of the crops. This was, no doubt, owing to one of the judges being a Canterbury man. There the crops generaly were not so deceptive in appearance as here. With this exceptiou the report was a most excellent one. On the motion being seconded by Mr Walker it was carried unanimously. Major Wilson then read the continuation of his essay on SCAB IN SHEEP. Scab is communicated from one sheep to another by means of the contact of diseased animals with the sound ; the impregnated acari travelling from the one to the other, or may be, by other and various ways ; by rubbing posts, angular projections used as rubbing places j and especially on rough runs, by wool from an infected animal, or by the insect itself being left on fern, manuka or other rough growth, abounding on such lands, and which renders it so very difficult to clean an infected flock running in such rough pastures. A question now arises, which seems to be rather a moot point j whether the disease of scab ever appears spontaneously, or is com- j municated solely by contagion. .:,,Cas9s are reported as having occurred in sheep that have been neglected and impoverished on badly drained and poorly grassed lands, or in some which have been over-driven and over-crowded at the end of each days journey; the exciting cause repeated on many consecutive days; or, in cases where they have been worried and driven about by dogs ; though no case of this nature has come within the experience of the writer. This spontaneous appearance of animalcules would seem to follow a law by which many diseases are governed. We have heard of cises in which the parasite, pediculus — louse — in man has appeared, as it were, spontaneously, amounting in the individual case to a positive disease; springing up apparently out of the body of the unfortunate, although in every respect the utmost cleanliness was observed. There are undoubtedly, in nature, cases of selection, and probably the one in view may be placed in that category : on the other hand, we have noticed in the idiosyncraoies of this parasite, not selection, but, if we may use the phrase, revulsion. It is, perhaps, remarkable that one of these cases was that of an East Coast Chief, on whose body these parasites seemed to be actually poisoned. ' . We observe .that vegetation is often the habitat of parasite life, i and are frequently at a loss to know whence spring these annoyances to the farmer and husbandman. The American blight on the apple may travel through the air from garden to orchard, but whence these distinctive leeches that infest the cherry and pear, in orchards perfectly isolated 1 Do they, too, arise spontane6usly,and if so, need we wonder at spontaneous production of scab 1 Such cases are, however, so exceedingly rare, that we may discuss the question from merely a philosophic point of view, and either believe or discredit the dogma without any serious inconvenience ; for practically it is not likely to effect the sheep farmer, if he has a clean flock, and can keep it seperate from others, he may be satisfied it will so remain, and that, for him, the visit of the sheep inspector has no other terror than the danger to his sheep from the contiguity of that gentleman, who may possibly have just then come from the examination of a very dirty flock. Having thus studied the nature of this disease, we may now profit ably direct our attention to the manner of cure. The aphorism that 11 physicians differ," is very remarkably exemplified in the treatment of ..scab, for. each flock owner has his own notions how to proceed, and the^; to him, proper application to use. As the illnesses to which man kind himself is heir, call forth the charlatan with his nostrums, so do the diseases of animals ; and no one, possibly, more than the one under discussion, their patent medicines being more or less patronised by the unfortunate, who has tried in vain, probably, the right application, but who has used it in a manner not calculated to secure success. Patent medicines are not always an unmixed evil. Sometimes they answer the expectations of the most ardent, but it is not always — or, at any time —judicious to follow the charlatan who looks upon the transaction simply as a business speculation; heavy expenses aud grievous disappointment being mostly the lot of those wno seek, from unscientific quarters, that which can be as readily obtained from more orthodox sources, and with a more certain hope of obtaining the relief desired. The sequel will show that the view here expressed is not without foundation. Passing on, however, to the more

legitimate practice, we have first the dressing with mercury— mercurial ointment — which is effeotual enough, but large flooks, such as are. depastured in the colonies, could not well be handled with advantage ;, the same objections obtaining in the use of this ointment as must always fee urged against " spottin," namely, { the want of time, if the flock be large. On small farms, both spotting | and mercurial dressing might obtain ; the former mode, doubtless, with advantage, if the wool were well grown, and the owner did not consider it piudent to wait for shearing, certainly the best of all times for sheep dressing. If the owner determine to " spot," he will find it advisable to have i proper stools prepared for the dressers, on which to lay the sheep. ' Round manuka being used, fixing j six u rungs " in two longitudinal ' pieces about 3 feet 6 inches in length. When this frame, or hurdle, is made, four legs must be attached, by boring augar holes and fixing ' manuka legs sufficiently high to keep the sheep's feet off the ground. The plan of stool on which the sheep rests will resemble the section of the frustrum of a cone. In spotting, the sheep is placed on this stool with its face downwards, as if it were standing, its legs being through the bars, the belly resting on the four centre bars, the operator feeling with his finger and thumb for spots of scab. When found, clipping the wool off the spot, and rubbing on the dressing stuff. Some operators scarify the spot by cutting with a sharp knife, and then cutting across the first incisions, afterwards rubbing in the mixture, which ought to be applied hot, if tobacco be used as an ingredient. | A most successful dressing for this purpose is made by an infusion of tobacco, mixed with spirits or oil of tar, the strength of the tobacco being one pound to three gallons of water. An equally efficient dressing for these spots is equal parts of whale oil and spirits, or oil of tar, the latter being .preferable, - from . being less volatile. Often, in my experience, the sheep would be so so covered with scab, the skin being an indurated mass of confluent pustules, as thick as pasteboard, that it had to be shorn all over — denuded rather of what little wool it had left, aud then being placed upon the stool, would be what we called " tiffened." Tnat was, to rub it all over with hot tobacco infusion, into which a wineglass full of oil of tar was poured, one operator pouring the mixture on while another rubbed it in, until the animal was covered with a white lather, resembling soap lather, the sheep being then turned out, and when it would again appear, possibly in ten days, the scab would be seen peeling off, and a pinky colored and healthy skin appearing underneath, with the young wool rising. We called this method "Tiffening" from the mode in which Mr Alfred Tiffen, of Napier, cured a flock of six thousaud, which were dressed in this manner, and cured in one dressing. Tobacco of the strength stated i.e : one pound to three gallons of water makes a good dip for sheep, and is both safe and certain, but it must be used pretty hot approaching 101 degrees. We cured two flocks with one dressing in a dip of this strength j taking the precaution of " Tiffening" the very bad cases. This tobacco dip is much to be preferred to the old " dips" so much used, arsenic of bi-chloride of mercury, corosive sublimate, which are neither so efficient nor so safe. Indeed, both applications are fraught with very considerable danger to both man and sheep. The use of tobacco, although so effective, is yet so expensive, that flock-owners have Sought an equally patent, yet cheaper remedy, and fortunately their efforts in this direction have been crowned with success- We now owe to mixture of Sulphur and lime, judiciously used, the speedy and radical cure of our infected flocks, the expence of obtaining a cure being reduced by this means to a minimum. Ib is somewhat surprising that other washes, including the expensive tobacco wash, should have been so long and persistently used to the exclusion of sulphur and lime, seeing especially, that it bad proved the most potent remedy for scabies in man. The medical men attached to the army on the East Coast of New Zealand, had many opportunities of proving its efficacy in curing the itch amongst the Maories, who, at the time of the war i there, were in the most deplorable ! condition with it, necessitating great care lest it should be communicated ' to the men of the forces. It was due to this preparation that the men were kept from suffering as they otherwise wculd have done, two or three applications being sufficient to effect a cure, Sulphur, we know, has long been use! as a purifier, and lime is mixed with it, in the proportion of one to two, more as a solvent than acting per se beneficially, in the direction of a cure 5 yet lime has doubtless some share, and perhaps not a small share in the cure. Those Polynesians who used lime in their hair, so as to alter its natural colour, by its constant application, no doubt, as a cleanser, are never afflicted with those disgusting parasites, pediculre, that so infest, if they do not distress their more unfortunate brethren, the Maoris, who knew nothing of the use of lime as a preserver.

Sheep-drjssing with sulphur and lime now obtains in all the Australian Colonies to the exclusion of tobacco and; other substances. A gentleman, in the province of Otago, who has had the most painful experience of this disease in his flocks, numbering some forty 1 thousand, wrote to me describing the modus operandi of the whole | treatment, and as it will be instructive to learn how so many sheep were cured on one station — the Greenfield, I will here quote from the letter in question : Weigh out, "he writes, one hundred pounds flour of sulphur and fifty pounds best new lime, which must be as fine as flour ; mix both together and sift through a seive, put the hundred and fifty pounds thus mixed into a sack, .then half-fill a four hundred j gallon boiler with water, and when on the boil, empty in the contents of the sack (1501bs), boil for abont fifteen minutes, stirring occassionally until the liquor is of a pale green orange colour (until it runs off the rail you are stUrring it with, like water, leaving the rail quite clean). When sufficiently boiled, fill the boiler quite full with cold water, and when at a boiling point, but not before — as the hot and cold water will not otherwise probobly amalgamate — it is fit for using. Let the heat be not less than one hundred and ten up to one hundred and twenty degrees. I used to keep the heat as near one hundred and fifty as possible. I/3t the sheep be in " swim" at least one minute, a minute aud-a-half is better if the sheep are strong enough to bear it. If the operation is properly performed one dip should, and would kill any scab ; but for fear that a sheep may get through the dip when all the.se conditions are not properly complied with, it will be safer to give them a second dip about ten days after first, more especially as it is. very inexpensive, and the dipping injures neither the sheep nor the wool. The heaviest work I had in this way, was when 1 had to dip my . sheep, forty thousand, thrice within three months, owing to a portion of the run being sdekc^mgly^pugh and scrubby, that we n&ver could get a clean muster. •";' In dipping immediately after the shearing one gallon of the mixture will be sufficient, for from four to five sheep. . To prove efficacy of this treatment select a few of tho worst in the flock, with patches, even as large as ones hand and as hard as a board, and treat them as described, treat, say, one hundred and twenty, keep them in a shed for a few days, when the old skin should begin to peel off ; in a few days more the skin should assume its normal condition, and feel quite soft, if it be not so, depend upon it, either the materials havo been bad, or else the conditions have not been complied with to the letter. Lime and sulphur may be used with perfect freodom, at least one halfostronger than the receipt, which is four ounces of sulphur and two ounces of lime to the gallon of water. I have used six ounces of sulphur, and three ounces of lime to the gallon of water with the very best results, to sheep very badly diseased. About every second year we give the sheep a dip in this mixture to kill the ticks and clean the skin. If the sheep have been at all in low condition during the winter or spring, they thrive amazingly after it. If the morning be raw with a heavy atmosphere, care mU3t be taken with the first Score or so, that some of them do not get choked with the gas lying too low instead of ascending After the stuff has been well stirred about by the first score of sheap, this gas will have evaporated, or have risen too high to be injurious On several occasions, two or three sheep were lost it that way on raw mornings with a heavy atmosphere without our being at all able to account for it, the sheep simply were choked and pulled out dead. That which drew attention first to the cause, was upon the a occasion of a gentleman who had 1 , on such a morning ridden, some distance to see me, I was standing on the dip, when I noticed that he turned pale and staggered as if about to fall, he Was immediately taken — carried — about twenty yards to the wafcer-raue, cold water being applied, when in a few minutes he, recovered. Two or three sheep had been lost that morning. No unpleasant effect was experienced by those constantly working at the dip. Dr Rouse, of Victoria, was, it appears, the first to direct attention to this cure in an essay, published , by him on the subject,; wherein he ao% vocated the cheapness of the curative properties of sulphur and lime. The gentleman, from whose letter I have quoted so freely, was the first in the province of Otago to use this mixture, and was induced to do so from reading Dr Rouse's essay,, and partly driven thereto, by the prohibitive duty placed. upon sheep-wash tobacco, which made the operation of dipping a costly, and almost ruinous matter, for when the wool was long, about a gallon of the decoction was required for each animal. As compared with tobacco, the cost of treating with sulphur and. lime is. a mere baga. telle, sulphnr in Otago, costing about:. £18 per ton, and the lime about £2 10s. It has been affirmed that the value for practical purposes of a medical work is always greater when fortified by cases to prove a dogma Or proposition j it is certainly

so in a .work on arithmetic or mathe- . ma tics, and why should hot any < science be more easily comprehended < by examples in proof? It is on this < principle that I am induced, still further, to tresp&ss on your time , and patience, by again quoting from ( the letter alluded to. This time it is on the use of one of the patent medicines, i.e., preparation of carbolic acid. It may be assumed that as the , sulphur and lime treatment is so I excellent, it is superfluous even to enumerate any other remedies ; so, j doubtless is it, so far as being able radically and safely to cure is concerned ; , but these preparations of carbolic are so easy of application, and withal so inexpensive, that some might be tempted to offer it a trial, and it is with a view to dissuade that we now transcribe a portion treating of this preparation. "Of carbolic acid my own experience," this geuteeman writes, " is not at all in its favour. It is very powerful and easily worked, but very dangerous to the life of the sheep, and damages both the animal and the wool. I imported, direct from the manufacturer, one thousand gallons of his very best for my own use ; the directions were : one gallon to fifty gallons of water. I had it mixed at one to sixty, instead of one to fifty as directed. 2,500 gallons in the tank, at a heat of seventy — (it is exceedingly easily worked at such a low temperature) — I was afraid from the look of the carbolic that the mixture was even then too strong, and took the precaution to put in only six of the strongest merino wethers. They were not out of the dip five minutes before they were all dead ; they reminded me of cattle undo? the influence of * tutu,' foaming at the mouth, became quite rigid all over the body, fell down as in a fit, got up again ; repeated this two or three times, and then all was over (a dog poisoned by strychnine does not die more quickly). The strength was then reduced to one in seventy, and,*2p^ sheep -thrown into the dip ; they were all more or less affected ; two died, and 'some were in fits m ?st ;P£ : * e 9? ov twelve ; hours'. Strength of mixture again reduced one to eighty,-^the first few sheep put through staggered a little, but after that they stood it very Well, the mixture becoming weaker after being stirred well by the sheep, the gas to some extent evaporating. Sheep very badly affected were experimented upon by mixing one glass of pure acid with 12 of tepid, water, and rubbed into the scab with a rough stick ; at that strength the sheep foamed at the mouth, went into convulsions and died in a few minutes. They could stand a small quantity of it at about one to 20 of I water, which is quite strong enough to kill anything in the shape °of insect life, through the heaviest patch of scab." The number of dippings an infected flock should receive is a controverted point. After pur last meeting in discussing this point with Mr. E. B. Walker, he remarked , that careful microscopical examinations in Australia had proved that in that country the young acari were developed in from 9 to 11 days, and that a second dip, nine days after the , first, was therefore advocated, which would be correct enough if the principle were conceded, that one dressing did not go to the foundation of the scab, however indurated it might be. If all the sheep can be mustered one dressing, if properly conducted, will be sufficient; and if after dipping, attention be given to the flock, to its perfect isolation, and keeping separate for some time from all new introductions, the owner may be little apprehensive of a fresh outbreak. Considerable financial loss must always accrue from an outbreak of scab in sheep. That " prevention is better than cure" is an alphorism long accepted as a truism to which there can be no dissent, and. to the sheep farmer no maxim is more apropos to the well-being of his flock. The most careful attention is demanded when the disease is in the same district in which he resides; and if he be wise he will see that his fences are in the most perfect order, that no strange sheep may be able to penetrate, or any of his own escape to convey infection upon their return. If he purchase additions to his flock, in whatever shape ; either as stud rams or breeding ewes or may-be wethers for fattening, he must, unless he be absolutely certain that they are perfectly clean, or have not travelled over dubious ground, secure immunity by dipping and by isolation for a period:- He must, *;tod, always^preserve his flock in the ; highest' possible* condition that either or s sound Health- will save him from Infection,. , bjit/' Bis sheep will be in a much belter condition, with stronger powers to withstand the weakening influence of the disorder it it should obtain possession ; for not Only is the disease itself a severe tax upon the constitution of the animal affected, but the . necessarily rough usage to which it must be subjected- in order to obtain a cure is often sufficient to cause considerable loss of life, and always so, if they have been neglected and impoverished. The precaution of Washing the posts and bottom Wires of a ring fence with carbolic acid mixture ought always be adopted under the circumstances, as the infected sheep from the outside are not unlikely to use these as rubbing places with its attendant danger to the welfare of those inside, In cases like these, on v

a large farm, a man must be kept constantly on the watch and go daily along the boundary until all danger has passe 1, Where sheep are kept on farms and consequently paddocked, precautions such 'as these are readily taken ; but on exposed runs there is of course necessarily more danger, and watchfulness becomes incessant and not always successful. When even these large estates are ring fenced the danger from infection is not much reduced, for they occupy often a whole " county side," and public roads cross them in all directions. It is from flocks travelling from one district to another that risk of infection is so great. The owners and overseers of these estates may be as vigilent as they can, and yet from the culpable heedlessness, and oftentimes ignorant bravado of the drivers of the cross-coun try flocks, no notice whatever is givert to the owners of .these runs that , a flock is to be passed through, and he only learns when to his dismay a possibly scabby flock has mixed with his own. A scientific disquisition upon this subject has not been here attempted, but rather a desire to direct attention to a few practical observations gathered by the writer- from experiences, which, at the time, were notaltogetherofthemostjoyousnature The sheep farmer and the larger flockowner, albeit they are to be envied their golden fleeces, have many cares and anxieties in connection with this possession, and not the least is to know, when danger is near, how to direct it from their own gates, and if it have entered how they may most expeditiously thrust it forth ; and of all the dangers to which at times their flocks are liable, one of the most costly and troublesome is that of the disease of which we write. Happy is that farmer, and in that respect blessed, into whose flock it has never entered. As no member seemed inclined to speak on the subject The Chairman said it appeared to him that if any .one. had had a scabby run they Vere ashamed to own it. He once, had the management of one and it cost them considerable trouble and expense to get rid of it. -.Lime and sulphur were/ no doubt, the best things to use, but he would make the mixture five times as sfcrono* as Major Wilson suggested. They had used ib in the proportion of one pound of sulphur and half pound of lime to the gallon of water. A weak solution of carbolic acid was used as a dip for lambs, affected with ticks, . it was applied a little above blood heat. Tobacco on aocount of the price could not be used. Sheep so treated would soon eat up their value. Mr James Runciman had not heard of lime as a cure, he had always used sulphur and tobacco. Major Wilson — Did you not find that that they would not mix well ? Mr Runciman — Yes. Major Wilson— l have tried it, but the sulphur would not dissolve. I have used wheat flour as a solvent, but then it could not be done with any success. Mr Runciman — Yes, it was impossible to dissolve the sulphur, we hadsimplyto rubitinasbestwecould. Major Wilson — But it will dissolve perfeotly with lime. Mr John Runoiman — -said he knew a little of Scab. ' The Chairman — Lately, Mr Runciman 1 Mr John Runciman — No ! he gained his knowledge some years i ago. He happened to buy 300 , ewes. They had been twice dipped, and had a certificate from the Inspector. He wanted however to dip them again ; but tobacco could not be got just then in quantity, and he was advised fco take them apart i from his other sheep, for four months, examining them carefully about every week, they appeared to ? be quite healthy. He then let them mix with the rest, and in about a fortnight the whole were affected. He bathed them with tobacco two or three times, and afterwards applied the following dip: 501bs of tobacco, 301 bs sulph ur, 41b corrosive sublimate, 41bs muriate of ammonia to 100 gallons of water, applied at a temperature of 110 degs ; since that time he had nothing to do with scab. It was a most effectual care. With regard to sulphur and lime, the latter had, he thought a bad effect on the wool ; it required soft soap mixed with it. He would not recommend it without something of this kind to counteract it. Mr Wilson said he could not see how it would, injure the wool, it did not injure the hair of the Polynesians, but allowing this, sulphur itself is better than any soft soap to counteract the ill effects of lime. Another oohnterkctant Was the yolk in the Wool. Of course no one could say anything against soft soap, except that it was expensive. Mr John Runciman said he was sorry to say that the decease was in thedistrict,forthefirsttimesincelß66 Mr Clark moved a hearty vote of thanks to Major Wilson for his valuable essay. Mr Henry Reynolds seconded. Major Wilson neturned thanks. Mr Fergusson here suddenly vacated the chair. Mr James Runoiman commented on the rather unceremonious manner in which the Vice President had treated them, and proposed that Mr Parker occupy the chair so as tocloM the meeting. The motion was carried Owing to the lateness of the hour, several motions were held over. Mr Fisher said, in answer to a member, that Mr Leslie's was th» next name for an essay. I This was all the business.